'Lies and Calumny'

Updated May 19, 2003 12:01 a.m. ET

One way to try to treat bad news is to shoot the messenger, of course. Thus the strong reaction by the French government to news stories about France's ties to Saddam Hussein that appeared in such prominent papers as the New York Times and London's Daily Telegraph

Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin last Friday called the reports, dealing with intelligence-sharing and other aspects of France's relations with Iraq -- "lies and calumny." And in a letter to the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Congress, French...